A Case Study of Innerscape - A Modern Urban Ashram

Abstract

In a fast-paced urban world, many people struggle to maintain emotional balance, personal clarity, and a sense of inner grounding. The modern interpretation of an ashram offers a relevant response to this challenge by blending traditional principles of reflection, simplicity, and nature-based living with contemporary spatial design. This study explores the ashram as a restorative environment—one that supports mental wellbeing through quietude, mindful routines, natural materials, and spaces that encourage slow, intentional living. By humanising the concept, the work positions the ashram not as a distant spiritual retreat but as an accessible framework for designing healthier, compassionate, and psychologically supportive urban spaces. The findings highlight how such environments can nurture emotional regulation, stress reduction, and deeper self-connection in everyday life.

Introduction

Rapid urbanisation, demanding work cultures, and constant digital engagement have increased stress, anxiety, and emotional fatigue among city residents. Most urban interiors prioritise efficiency over psychological and sensory well-being, leaving people disconnected from nature and from themselves. Research in environmental psychology, public health, and biophilic design shows that exposure to natural elements—such as light, greenery, and organic materials—promotes stress recovery, improves mood, and enhances cognitive function. However, such restorative environments are rarely accessible in daily urban life.

InnerScape is proposed as a modern urban ashram: a nature-integrated interior sanctuary located within the city, designed for everyday use by students, office workers, and stressed urban residents. The project incorporates bamboo, terracotta, natural fabrics, acoustic control, and indoor planting to create a calming space for meditation, yoga, quiet retreat, and community interaction. The research documents the design process, user feedback, and broader implications for integrating nature-based spiritual environments within dense metropolitan settings.

The study addresses the key problem that most urban interiors fail to combine natural materials, spiritual ambience, and community-oriented healing, despite strong evidence of their mental health benefits. Its objectives include applying biophilic principles (with emphasis on bamboo), evaluating spatial zoning for different restorative activities, assessing user perceptions, and developing guidelines for future urban ashrams.

The research is significant because it converts psychological evidence into a replicable interior model, demonstrates the suitability of bamboo-based low-impact materials, and positions nature-integrated spiritual spaces as essential urban infrastructure. Literature reviewed shows that natural elements reduce stress and support wellbeing across demographics, while studies of spiritual communities highlight how architecture can embody spiritual values through materiality, light, and biodiversity.

A clear research gap exists in interior-scale, everyday-use urban ashrams that combine bamboo, biophilia, and spiritual programming within compact settings—gaps that InnerScape directly addresses. The methodology includes concept development, user interviews, zoning and material design, iterative visualisation, and post-design evaluation by 20–30 participants.

Results indicate that users perceived the space as calming, restorative, and strongly connected to nature. They intuitively understood the zoning, appreciated the culturally neutral ambience, and viewed the design as adaptable and feasible for institutions. Feedback confirmed that natural materials, soft lighting, and greenery were essential to the experience.

The discussion highlights that InnerScape successfully recreates many benefits of nature and traditional ashram environments within an urban interior, offering multisensory restorative experiences. Limitations include reliance on simulated rather than real in-person usage, and testing within only one regional context.

Conclusion

The InnerScape case study demonstrates that a modern urban ashram—embedded within the metropolitan environment—can function as an effective daily sanctuary for mental wellbeing. Through bamboo-based materials, biophilic strategies, and inclusive spiritual neutrality, the design translates interdisciplinary evidence into a practical, replicable interior model. The findings support the notion that nature-integrated spiritual interiors should be regarded as essential components of urban wellbeing infrastructure, offering accessible spaces for reflection, grounding, and community connection.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Arpita Agrawal , Mrs. Sucheta Nigam. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.